Warmouth Sands - Municipal Golf - Mike Young

Warmouth Sands Golf Course is a new rebuilt 18 hole municipal golf course in Vidalia, Georgia. The course is being designed by Mike Young and will open in spring 2025. The site is located at the Vidalia Regional Sports Complex on Ezra Taylor Road. The course will have 15 bunkers and play to a par 72 at 6,700 yards from the back tees. Young has planned for the golf course to play at a single fairway mower height up to the greens.

The project is part of the Sweet Onion Golf Authority, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting golf in Vidalia. The course is being funded through a combination of private donations, grants, and tax revenue. Warmouth Sands Golf is expected to be a popular destination for golfers in the Vidalia area. The course is named after the warmouth bream, a small fish that is found in the area.

The golf course construction benefits from sandy soil. ESG Operations, the public works department of Vidalia conducted a study on erosion in summer of 2023 which delayed the project by 3 weeks. The new course will be affordable and open to the public. The city of Vidalia hired the grow-in superintendent in August 2024.

Fried Egg's Garrett Morrison hosted a podcast with Mike Young discussing golf construction options for building affordable greens, bunkers and maintenance practices. Young highlights the key decisions such as USGA specification greens construction versus push up greens construction, turfgrass cultivar selection for bermudagrass, among other topics in the informative podcast.

Warmouth Sands Golf is located in Toombs County, Georgia. Toombs County is a rural county located in the southeastern corner of Georgia with a population of approximately 25,000 people. The county seat is Vidalia with a population of approximately 15,000 people. Warmouth Sands Golf is the first new golf course to be built in Toombs County in over 20 years.

Ray Cutright, PGA is a leader involved in the site planning and golf course community's future.